Question 1

how does this work and is there monthly fees?

Accepted Answer

It works by letting you use a USB port and converting it as a network port - so you can be networked and have an internet connection. So if you need an additional network port or the one you have doesn't work, and you have working USB ports, you can use this as a replacement or add-on and have another network port.

There is no monthly fee for this as this is only a converter and only converts a USB port into a network port so you can  plug your network cable into the other end of this device.

Question 2

Does the adapter work with more current versions of Mac osx? 
I have a Macbook Air with 10.8, and will soon upgrade to 10.9.  I need a wired connection to connect to company network.  They don't allow WiFi connection to servers.

Accepted Answer

We bought one for a ChromeBook which has limited drivers for the same exact purpose.  It works fine for us.  I would expect that this would work for your MacBook Air as well, assuming of course you have a USB to connect it to.

Question 3

2 associated questions:
When staying at a hotel, most offer Wi-Fi, which is not secure.  A few hotels offer an ethernet cable.  Would use of a direct ethernet connection provide a secure internet experience? If so, I will buy this adapter.
If a bank or other source is using a secure connection, can I assume a Wi-Fi connection with them is therefore also secure?  If so, no need for the ethernet adapter. 
Thanks, 
Jeff

Accepted Answer

There is no such thing as a secure connection to a network that you do not own and administrate. Wi-Fi can be attacked by anyone within range where as being hard wired in they would have to have physical access to the network in order to sniff your traffic. Either way never consider any public network secure, you should always be using encryption to the server (https) or running over a VPN.

Question 4

I have a palm pilot tungsten E2. It will not sync to windows 8. Will this item allow me to use the sync tool with a usb on one end and the palm connecting device on the other end. I was thinking I could use the sync tool cord from palm and put it's usb end into this item and then put this items usb into the monitor to sync. ????

Accepted Answer

I don't think this will work. There are two kinds of USB: "Host" and "Device". This Linksys ethernet adapter is a "device" and based on some internet research the Palm Pilot is a "device". These two USB devices cannot communicate without a "host".

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